James Mackay

Summary

James has nearly 30 years’ experience in the marine industry, of which over 25 have been in the fibre rope industry. James joined Marlow Ropes in 1991, and during his time, was instrumental in growing the single point mooring [SPM] and engineered product portfolio of the marine and offshore division of this business and assisted in a number of industry firsts. These included pioneering the first use of Dyneema ropes for riser tethers and securing the first contracts awarded for permanent polyester deepwater mooring ropes in the mid 90’s for Petrobras in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico for BP’s "Mad Dog" and the "Independence Hub" [2002 – 2006] projects for Enterprise Oil, the latter of which was concluded under Bridon following the acquisition of Marlow’s marine and offshore assists.

Following the acquisition by Bridon, James was responsible for all fibre ropes sales including deepwater moorings, SPM’s, heavy lift and the emerging renewables market focusing mainly on wave energy but also in tidal and wind. In addition, during this time he was also responsible for Bridon's fishing and grapnel wire rope markets. Moving to a business development role in December 2012, he has overseen the rapid growth of Dyneema heavy lift slings including supplying the largest capacity fibre rope slings with a minimum break load of 4000 tonnes and supplying the first Dyneema mooring inserts for drilling rigs in the North Sea. During the last 8 months he managed the supply of two polyester mooring projects for a Norwegian client including gaining factory manufacturing approval and full product certification in accordance with the latest revision of DNV’s standard for Offshore Fibre Moorings, DNV-OS-E303.

Since leaving Bridon in May 2014, James has been employed as an associate consultant with Tension Technology International handling a wide range of projects including, failure investigations, wave energy system costs, project management, inspection, expediting and installation on a number of specialist fibre rope net projects. These have included overseeing installation in the shipyards, offshore commissioning and ongoing support.

In addition he has also taken on the day to day marketing for the business and looking after ad hoc projects as they come in.

James holds offshore certificates BOSIET (5700) & (5750 - with CA EBS) and a valid offshore medical, and has travelled and worked on numerus offshore installations worldwide.

On site QC Inspection and manufacturing review for the Ichthys RPN project

Yarn Installation and Offshore Commissioning for the Ichthys RPN Project

Failure investigation and Expert Witness - Various

Cost modelling for moorings on renewable energy devices

December 2012 – May 2014

Business Development Manager – Fibre Products, Bridon International Limited

Commercial and Technical management of all new products and market developments including marketing and strategic planning, cost development and launch plans.

Project management of two polyester projects to gain manufacturing and product approval to DNV-OS-E303

January 2006 – December 2012

General Sales Manager – Bridon International Limited

Responsible for all aspects of fibre sales business following acquisition of the marine and offshore assets of Marlow Ropes.

Managed factory transition from Hailsham to Coatbridge facility within first 6 months of acquisition including managing machinery decommissioning for removal to new factory, identifying and securing new offices for sales and engineering team and ultimate closure of Hailsham factory within timetabled deadlines.

Effectively planned and implemented transition of fibre sales into the overall Bridon sales business

March 2004 – December 2005

Commercial and Technical Sales Manager – Marlow Ropes Limited

In addition to Commercial Sales Manager role, assumed full responsibly for the Technical Design Team

Ensured product range and design, met conflicting demands of high performance, maintained attractiveness to market whilst still being cost effective and profitable.

July 2002 – February 2004

Commercial Sales Manager – Marlow Ropes Limited

Reporting to Chief Executive responsible for management of all Regional Sales Managers [x6] and the Customer Service Team [x6].

Devised and implemented strategies that best used the resources available and maintained market leadership in marine and offshore fibre ropes.

Developed a comprehensive and profitable trading portfolio to complement our manufacturing capability.

Managed sales teams and measured their performance against individual and business sales plans.